A deal with an international operator has been signed for a new hotel to be built on Middlesbrough's Middlehaven development.

The three-star, 150-bedroom hotel will be a key part of the #200m redevelopment being undertaken at the Middlehaven site.

BioRegional Quintain, which is carrying out the redevelopment project, has signed an agreement with an as yet unnamed group to operate the new hotel.

It is expected the name of the hotel group will be unveiled in the coming months.

Plans are also set to be announced soon for the first two major residential buildings at Middlehaven.

The signs now are that the redevelopment of Middlehaven, which has been spearheaded by Tees Valley Regeneration, is now gathering pace.

If detailed planning consent is granted work is expected to start before the end of the year on the residential buildings with construction of the hotel starting within a year.

The Middlehaven site has already seen the building of the Terrace Hill office development and work is underway on the #70m project to build a new home for Middlesbrough College.

The BioRegional Quintain plans envisage a development of almost 1m sq ft, including commercial, 585 homes, leisure, and shopping uses as well as the hotel.

The plans also envisage high quality public areas, including event squares, and improved links with the town centre.

Designs for the development have already won international acclaim.

Middlehaven won the big urban projects category at the MIPIM (Architectural Review) Future Projects Awards - the architectural Oscars - against other short-listed projects including Plot-Scape in Bursa, Turkey and the redevelopment of London's King's Cross Station area.

Pete Halsall, managing director of BioRegional Quintain, told the Gazette today: "We have signed heads of term withn a major international hotel group.

"We are very excited about this and the operator is also very excited about the whole Middlehaven project.

"Everything on the site is zero carbon and will be built to the highest sustainability standards and that applies to the hotel.

"It will probably be the world's first zero carbon emissions hotel which is great for the development.

"Detailed applications have also been submitted for the first 150 residential units and we are very confident that the scheme will be a huge success," said Mr Halsall.